


golden slumber fill your eyes (smiles awake you when you rise)

by MagicaLyss



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Big Brother Peter Parker, Car Accidents, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Endgame, Precious Peter Parker, Road Trips, Sensory Overload, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, but not THAT scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 04:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19055590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicaLyss/pseuds/MagicaLyss
Summary: “We both know how weird you sleep and I will not be dealing with a concussed kid who fell off the couch in his sleep.”Peter flushes. “It was one time, Mister Stark-”“One time is one time too many, kiddie. Not going to forget that one,” Tony says, rolling his eyes again. Peter also doesn’t think he’s seen Tony roll his eyes this much ever. “Not arguing with me on this one.”OR Tony offers to take Peter on a road trip to California to visit Universities, but maybe letting Peter drive was a bad idea.Post-Endgame but /that/ scene didn't happen





	golden slumber fill your eyes (smiles awake you when you rise)

“You really didn’t need to do this for me, Mister Stark… But, um, thank you,” Peter blurts over the radio.

Tony rolls his eyes and glances over at Peter in passenger seat of the car.

“We’ve been on the road for ten hours, kiddo. It would be kinda stupid to turn back now,” he says. “Plus, I really don’t mind. I’m a little biased with which school you pick, but CalTech isn’t that much worse than MIT.”

Peter grins, lifting his socked feet to rest on the dash. He abandoned his shoes the moment he got into the car for the road trip.

May had been the one to suggest it after finding out all of his classmates had already been looking around campuses recently. She couldn’t take him because she couldn’t take the time off work. Plus, they didn’t have the money for gas and their car is pretty awful, it wouldn’t make it all the way across the country. It would probably strand them on the side of a highway.

As soon as May had brought it up, Tony was totally onboard with going on a road trip with his kid.

“You hungry yet?” Tony asks, parental instincts constantly filling his head. He used to think he’d never be a good father and yet, here he is. Not biologically, but they’ve been through so much together it’s hard to think of him as anything other than his kid.

“It’s only been two hours since we had lunch.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Peter flushes, not wanting to admit that he is hungry. Stupid metabolism.

But Tony just laughs. “I’ll pull off on the next exit and we’ll stockpile on some junk food and water. I could use some coffee anyway.”

“Thanks, Mister Stark!” Peter chirps, connecting his phone to the Bluetooth speakers to play his own playlist for the next stretch of highway.

  
*

“You excited, kid?” Tony asks. They’ve been driving in mostly silence other than some quiet banter and playing stupid car games like I Spy and the alphabet game.

They’ve left highway driving for backroads on the way to the motel they’re staying at. Tony wanted to do 5-star hotels for the road trip, but Peter said that the motels are half the fun.

“Crazy excited!” Peter exclaims. He’s curled up in passenger seat, already feeling pretty exhausted. Not that he doesn’t love driving all day with Tony, he just hasn’t slept well in a few nights. He’s been trying to get as much patrol in as possible since he’ll be gone for about a week while looking at Uni campuses.

“I can’t believe there’s only a year until I’ll be starting Uni…” he murmurs. In all honesty, he’s terrified. He doesn’t want to let go of May and Tony and Queens. It’s his home.

“I can _hear_ you thinking, kid. Spit it out,” Tony says, glancing over when he slows down at a stop sign.

“I’m just worried,” Peter admits. “If I get into CalTech, I’ll have to make this drive by myself every time I want to come home… It’s just scary. I don’t feel like I’m ready to just _leave._ ”

Tony sighs softly, reaching out to tousle Peter’s hair fondly. “If you decide you hate it, you’re always welcome to take a year off schooling and hang out as my personal intern. But you’re going to love University, Peter. I promise you that. It’s scary but it’s fun and you’ll learn and teacher’s will finally see your potential.”

“I’m going to miss you and May… Ned wants to go to Cornell. MJ wants to go to an international school for at least a year, I think she said UK last time I checked. Her second choice is Harvard… We’re all going to be so far apart, and this is the first time I’ve travelled out of state since DC, unless you count going to space,” Peter rambles anxiously.

Tony rolls his eyes again with a sigh. They don’t talk much about what happened during the day. They’ve had plenty of middle of the night talks, but it’s rarely spoken about when the sun is up.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve had to tell you, but I’m literally a billionaire. If you wanted me to fly out to you, I could be there in a few hours if I took a suit or a private jet,” Tony says with a little laugh, but Peter knows he hates that Peter’s leaving just as much as Peter does.

“What if I just-”

“Don’t finish that. You know, deep down, you want to go to University. If you want CalTech, you’ll go to CalTech. If you want MIT, you’ll go to MIT. If you want me to move May all the way to Cali just for you, I would in a heartbeat. You know this, Peter. You don’t need to be so anxious about this. We’ll both still love you no matter how often we see you.”

“What about Morgan?” Peter asks with a pouty frown. “She’ll forget all about me as soon as I’m gone, and she’ll pick a new person to be her big brother.”

Tony can’t help but roll his eyes again. “Harley’s going to MIT and has to balance visiting Tennessee and visiting us. Morgan hasn’t forgotten about him yet, I doubt she’d ever forget about you, Pete.”

The teenager huffs a breath, tucking his knees closer against his chest and resting his chin on top.

“What about Queens? What are they going to do without Spider-Man?”

“Listen, kid,” Tony says, pulling into the motel parking lot and turning to face Peter properly with a gentle smile. “You don’t need to be this worried. We’ll figure it out as it comes. If you decide to go to CalTech, but end up hating it, you can come home and the next you, you can try again with a different school. You have all the time in the world to decide this.”

Peter’s shoulders fall, letting his body relax in the seat.

Tony reaches out to cup his cheek in one hand, thumb tracing his collarbone gently. Peter sometimes forgets that in those five years he missed while being gone, Tony really embraced his fatherly side. Peter still hangs onto moments like these like they’ll disappear one day.

“Nobody’s going to forget about you, Peter, trust me on that one,” Tony murmurs with one of his sad smiles. “You were gone for five years and nobody forgot about you, kiddo. A few months at a time filled with phone calls and video calls won’t make us forget you.”

“Thanks, Mister Stark,” Peter murmurs, unashamedly leaning into Tony’s hand.

“I’ve told you, kid, we’re way past being so formal.”

  
*

Peter sometimes doesn’t believe the things around him are real.

Sometimes he thinks that maybe he’s still trapped in the soul stone and this is what he gets to live out.

Because there’s no way this can be real.

There’s no way Tony Stark is really his father-figure.

When they get to their motel room, Tony makes him shower first while he tries to find their pyjamas in their overnight bag. After he’s done showering, it’s Tony’s turn and Peter sets up some blankets on the couch of their one bed room.

As soon as Tony’s out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt, he gives one glance at Peter before rolling his eyes.

“Thanks for setting up a bed for me, kiddo,” he says, the smile never leaving his face.

Peter’s not sure if he’s seen Tony this genuinely happy ever before.

“You get the bed,” Peter says, trying to act surer than he is. Why would he be the one getting the bed?

“Nope, if anyone’s getting the bed it’s the Spider-baby,” Tony says, digging through a backpack to find their toiletries. “We both know how weird you sleep and I will not be dealing with a concussed kid who fell off the couch in his sleep.”

Peter flushes. “It was one time, Mister Stark-”

“One time is one time too many, kiddie. Not going to forget that one,” Tony says, rolling his eyes again. Peter also doesn’t think he’s seen Tony roll his eyes this much ever. “Not arguing with me on this one.”

Peter sticks out his tongue in response, pulling himself off the couch. Before Tony can take his spot, he grabs the blankets and pillows off the couch and throws them back on the bed.

“If you won’t let me sleep on the couch, neither of us are,” he says, hoping his blush isn’t too obvious. But Tony just grins, ruffling Peter’s hair and pressing a toothbrush into his hand.

“Brush your teeth, Spider-baby. I’ll find a channel that’ll put you to sleep,” Tony says, hopping onto the bed.

“Good luck trying!” Peter calls before he shuts the bathroom door behind them. They both know that Peter finds everything interesting. Tony’s yet to find a channel that puts Peter to sleep, so far, the only thing that really works is classical music. And even then, Peter sometimes gets excited looking into the composers and the musical arrangements.

  
*  
(Also sorry I don’t know how to drive so this may be totally wrong)  


“I can’t drive, Mister Stark,” Peter argues. He’s sitting in the driver’s seat of Tony’s Audi R8 Spyder in the motel parking lot, hands gripping the wheel.

“You have your license, kid,” Tony replies, rolling his eyes fondly. “I promised May I’d help you feel more comfortable driving and we’re taking all backroads to the next stop, so it’s no big deal. No highways and barely anybody else on the roads. And if you really can’t, you can pull over and I’ll take over for you.”

Peter sighs gently and starts going through the motions.

“Mirrors, keys, brake, um, car in drive… okay, okay, okay, I’ve got this,” Peter mumbles, very slowly putting pressure on the gas.

“You’re right. You’ve got this. Start turning the wheel left so you don’t hit the car behind us,” Tony instructs. “Not too fast or else you’ll hit the car beside us.”

“You’re stressing me out more, Mister Stark,” Peter says, way too careful as he slowly pulls out of the parking spot and straightens up on the road.

Tony holds up his hands in surrender, but he doesn’t look at all worried about Peter’s driving skills. With his spidey-senses and insane reflexes he’s going to be a really good driver.

“You’re going to make a left up here and then we’re going straight for about thirty-five miles at about fifty miles per hour.”

“Okay… Okay. Just driving straight. I can do that,” Peter says, obviously not believing what he’s saying. He quickly checks his strength, worried about how easy it would be to bend the steering wheel beneath his death-grip. It’s a little bit warped, but not noticeably so.

“Jeez, kiddo, you need to relax a bit,” Tony says, resting a comforting hand on the back of Peter’s neck. Luckily, he doesn’t say anything about the sweat Peter’s sure has coated the area. “You’re doing fantastic just try speeding up a little bit, you’re only at thirty miles right now.”

“Right, right, right. Speeding up,” Peter murmurs, carefully pressing down inch by inch until the speedometer reads fifty exactly.

“Perfect. You’re doing great,” Tony says. “I’ve got full faith in you, buddy. Just wait until Morgan starts driving. She’ll be a menace.”

Peter laughs a little bit, finding himself relaxing with Tony’s hand on his neck and talking about his little sister.

“You know, I don’t know if May ever told you, but I always wanted a sibling,” Peter says. Tony lifts his eyebrows, barely in Peter’s peripheral vision who refuses to take his eyes off the road for even a second. “I used to beg May and Ben for a little brother or sister.”

“What did they say?”

“They never wanted kids,” Peter says. Sometimes he has to remind himself that the bad thoughts are wrong. He’s not a burden no matter how much he feels like he is. “They were young when I got dropped off at their doorstep, so kids hadn’t even been discussed yet. After me, they didn’t think they wanted another. Guess I was just too much of a handful.”

It was meant to be a joke because they both know he is a handful, but the words fall a little flat and Tony’s hand tightens on the back of his neck.

“Maybe they just realized that they couldn’t get any better than you,” Tony says. He murmurs a quick reminder of a stop sign coming up.

“I’ve got Morgan now though and I’m going to be the best big brother in the history of big brothers. Harley’s going to need to step up his game if he wants to be anywhere near how good I’m going to be,” Peter says, smiling proudly when he makes a perfect stop and start at the sign.

“You’re already doing wonderful, Peter. We’ll really need your help though when she gets to her teenage years. Maybe she’ll listen to you unlike you ignoring everything I ever told you.”

“Hey!” Peter huffs. “I wasn’t _that_ bad.”

“You literally died, Peter. Five years. I told you like a thousand times you weren’t allowed to die, but you still did anyway, huh? You’re constantly going against what I say.”

“At least Morgan’s not going to be a superhero. I feel like it’ll be a walk in the park compared to me,” the teenager says with a laugh. He knows he’s been more than a handful for both Tony and May.

Peter’s arm hairs suddenly stand straight up, fear spiking like someone lighting a fire in his stomach.

“Something-” Peter says, finally glancing over at Tony who’s already realized Peter’s spidey-senses have gone off.

“Pull over,” he instructs. “Pull over, Peter. Hurry.”

Peter does as told, hitting the brakes and swinging the wheel to pull to the shoulder of the road, hitting the hazard lights button.

There’s no time though. Peter can hear the squealing of tires and then everything around him explodes.

  
*

The first thing Peter’s aware enough to notice is heat. A searing heat everywhere around him. And then the pain starts filling in the missing gaps and Peter can’t help the whine of pain that escapes him.

“-ter! Underoos!” Tony’s shouting.

Peter slowly pries his heavy eyelids open, met with darkness and the all-consuming pain.

“M’ser… Mis’r S’rk,” Peter slurs, eyes falling shut again. He can’t think, can’t breathe, can’t feel. He welcomes the numbness like it’s a hug.

“Peter!” Tony calls again, but Peter can’t find it in him to respond.

Everything’s dark and he can’t feel his body anymore. Just numbness and emptiness and fear. Pure, unfiltered fear.

And there’s a hand that’s against his foot. Cold against the painful heat. Comforting and reassuring and helping to soothe his fear. Just a little bit of pressure through his old sneakers.

Why or who can’t fill themselves in. He’s not sure where he is or what happened or why he can’t seem to hang onto a single thought.

There’s an awful gurgling noise, bubbling or boiling or maybe he’s hungry… That doesn’t seem right. He feels more nauseous than hungry. At least he knows that much.

And then he does throw up. Or at least he think he does, but it doesn’t seem to go far, filling his mouth and skull until he’s sure he’s going to explode. And it’s too metallic and smells too strong. Like blood-

“Pete? Kiddo?” the voice is back, barely floating into his subconscious. “Fuck, fuck, goddamn it. I can’t-”

He wants to reassure whoever’s panicking, but he can’t move. He can’t even convince his foot to move under the light pressure.

Pressure.

There’s so much pressure on his chest. And inside his head. And threatening to make him implode or maybe explode. He’s not so sure anymore.

  
*

The next time Peter’s aware enough for some things to become present, the first thing he does is throw up. Again? He’s not sure.

It’s loud. Much much too loud and he tries to cry out in pain, but his lungs aren’t cooperating enough for him to even take a breath.

There are sirens screaming and there are voices shouting, the voice from before is louder than ever, full of desperation and so much pain. His name. The familiar voice is screaming his name.

There’s a bright light in his eyes, white and too bright and too much.

Everything’s too much-

  
*

The third time Peter comes around, his ears are ringing. He thinks he’s in the back of an ambulance if the strong sterile smells and the blaring sirens tell him anything. He thinks there’s someone bustling around him, at least one person, and their voice is panicked.

“-not working!” she’s shouting. “Do we give him more?”

“More could kill him!” someone shouts back. “Overdosing-”

And he passes out again.

  
*

The fourth and final time Peter is conscious again, he’s alone and everything filters in at once.

There’s pain. So much pain. Obviously, the anesthetics and pain relievers didn’t work with his insane metabolism, he must be at a regular hospital since they were somewhere near the center of Illinois, nowhere near the tower or the compound or where they have synthesized super-drugs.

It’s bright. Insanely bright to the point where he squeezes his eyes shut and tries not to let any of the tears fall. And there’s so much noise.

There’s a beating heart monitor somewhere by his head, the bed is squeaky when he moves, there’s a TV playing on the wall opposite him. That’s not even including all of the noise from the rest of the hospital, constant movement and crying at loss or with joy and there’s so many people in so much pain.

Even the smells of chemicals are too much and Peter wants to curl up and die, but he’s in too much pain to even move.

“-go! He’s my kid!”

“Sir, he’s probably not even awake and you’re hurt too. You need to rest,” a stranger’s voice replies. They’re just outside the door to his room.

“I’m fine! I’ll rest when I get to see my kid!” Tony argues loud and it grates at Peter’s ringing ears.

He whines in pain. Tony can make it better. Tony always makes it better.

“He’s hurting,” Tony begs. “Please, let me see him. I need- I need to see him. He’s scared and he’s hurting. Please, just have some compassion.”

A loud sigh and then the door is being pushed open. Even more light floods into the room and Peter’s sure he’s crying now, squeezing his eyes shut as tight as they can but it still doesn’t help.

“ _Kid_.” Tony sounds like he’s in pain and there’s footsteps and the lights disappear, plunging the room into darkness. More footsteps and then there’s a cool hand against his forehead.

Peter takes a heaving breath, trying to relax, but it doesn’t work very well and his breath escapes him as a whine or maybe a sob, everything’s too loud, he can’t even hear his own noises.

“You’re okay, Spider-baby. You’re okay. I’ve got you,” Tony’s saying. His arms wind beneath Peter’s body and then the teenager’s body is resting against his chest.

Hands are covering Peter’s ears, not anywhere near how well the noise-cancelling headphones Tony made work, but the help filter out some of the noises.

Tony also tosses the scratchy blanket off Peter’s legs, unhooking the heart monitor from his chest.

It’s a long time of Peter’s heaving sobs and shaking body before he finally soothes enough and his senses dial back a little bit.

“What-” He coughs; throat dry from all the tears. “What happened?”

“Got in a car accident,” Tony explains quietly, pressing a few kisses the top of Peter head. He feels like shit and everything hurts like hell, but Tony’s here and that’s all the really matters.

“You ‘kay?” Peter asks.

Tony lets out a wet laugh. “Yeah, kiddie, I’m fine. I got a mild concussion and a sprained ankle, along with a few cuts and bruises, but I’m fine, Petey.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. What about you? How much pain are you in?” Tony asks, pulling back to check over Peter’s broken body.

“Lots,” Peter responds. “Don’t got… Don’t got any painkillers.”

“Shit, kid. I’m sorry. That’s… That’s awful.”

“Normally get to see Mo when I’m in hospital,” Peter slurs tiredly. “Hurts…”

Tony sighs quietly, pressing a few more kisses to Peter’s head. “They’re on their way to come see you and bringing some super-drugs for our superkid.”

“Really? Does… Does May know?”

“Yeah, kid. She’s coming too. Now scooch up, I’m tired and hospital chairs are the worst ever.”

Peter can’t move, too tired to do much, but Tony doesn’t seem to mind, moving Peter over and hopping onto the bed beside him.

“Try to get some sleep, buddy. Hopefully, you can sleep off some of the pain. I’m sorry this is happening,” Tony murmurs, another kiss against Peter’s forehead.

Peter flails a little, accidently hitting Tony in the chin. “Don’t ‘pologize. Not… Not your fault.”

“Okay, kid. Get some sleep, spider-baby. Please,” Tony tells him.

“’kay. You too. You tired too.”

“Okay, baby. I’m tired too. I’ll sleep as long as you do too.”

Peter opens his mouth to respond, but he falls asleep before he can say anything.

  
*

When he wakes up, he’s warm. Not the awful searing warmth from before, but a comforting, loving warmth.

“Petey? You awake?”

Peter slowly pries his eyes open, blinking against the soft light. Tony’s still a heavy weight against his right side, but there’s another weight against his right.

He lets his head loll sideways, finding a mess of brown hair.

“Mm… Morgan?” he slurs. There’s no longer any pain, all lethargic and numb. Super-drugs for Superkid like Tony promised.

“Petey!” the kid exclaims, bouncing up.

“Remember what you promised, Morgan,” Pepper says. “You’re only allowed on Petey’s bed if you stay still and quiet.”

Morgan nods quickly, a childish seriousness on her face. She looks up at Peter and says in a loud whisper, “Sorry, Petey. I’ll be quiet.”

Peter looks up, barely able to keep his eyes open, at Pepper who’s in one of the chairs.

“He okay?” Peter asks.

Pepper smiles and brushes back the teenager’s curls. “Tony’s just fine. He only passed out about an hour ago when we got here and knew we’d be watching over you.”

Morgan snuggles tighter against his chest and he lets out an involuntary gasp of pain that has the six-year-old reeling back.

“Oh my gosh, Petey! I’m so sorry!” she gasps, eyes wide and filling steadily with tears.

“It’s ‘kay, Mo,” Peter says, hurrying to steady his breathing. “I’m ‘kay.”

“C’mon, sweetie, let’s let Petey get some rest-”

“No, no, no,” Peter pleads, tightening his grip around Morgan. “Stay. Please.”

Pepper sighs, tutting softly but fondly. “Fine. But let us know the moment you need more painkillers or if she’s hurting you.”

Peter salutes clumsily, pulling Morgan against his chest in a hug, and peppering her face in kisses and clumsy raspberries.

“Love you,” he slurs. “’m the best big brother ever.”

A kiss lands in his own hair, Tony must have woken up.

“You are and I’m the best dad ever.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this instead of doing my insanely long to do list whoops. 
> 
> Hit me up on tumblr if you wanna https://lyssismagical.tumblr.com/
> 
> -Lyss


End file.
